Upcoming Events

Kindergarten Open House for newly registered families will take place on June 11th starting at 1pm in the library.

You will have a chance to meet and hear from school administration, school advisory council chairs as well as teaching staff. The brief presentation will be followed by a mini tour of a kindergarten classroom.

June 2nd- Day 4
June 2nd- Boys' Slo-pitch pool play
June 2nd- Freezies sold at lunch
June 2nd-5th EQAO continues for Grade 3's
June 3rd- Pizza Lunch
June 3rd- In-house staff PD
June 4th- EQAO commences for Grade 6's
June 4th- North Area Track Meet Finals
June 5th- Author visit for K & Grade 1 students
June 5th- Freezies sold after school

June 6th- PA Day- no school for students

Last week unfortunately did not see the conclusion of construction along  Fairlawn Avenue but at least we experienced slightly better weather. Our last School Advisory Meeting of the year took place on Monday night- many thanks to all those who attended. Flyers were also posted on exterior doors advertising our upcoming Fun Fair to be held the evening of June 13th. Many of our staff were involved in team PD sessions as we begun our planning for the coming school year.  Our spring concert was be held on Tuesday night and it was absolutely fantastic! Many thanks go out to all staff who supported and ensured the success of the event. For the content please see the video link below. Our girls' slo-pitch team commenced their playoff run with a reduced roster. The girls performed incredibly well only to fall one run short 9-8. Congratulations go out to the team and their coaches. EQAO started for our Grade 3's with different classes scheduled for each day. This process will also continue well into the next two weeks. 

The coming week will see many of our athletes in action. Our boys' slo-pitch team will start their season on Monday morning, participating in pool-play. Please note the Grad Committee will be selling freezies on Monday at lunch as well. EQAO will continue for our Grade 3's and our Grade 6's will also commence its completion. After-4 programs will enter their second-last week. Tuesday will bring our next Pizza lunch. On Wednesday, more of our educators will be involved in team planning and PD. On Thursday, those athletes who qualified for the North Area track and Field Finals will be in competition. We wish all best of luck! On Friday, our kindergarten and Grade 1 students will have the opportunity to spend time with a visiting author. On this day, freezies will be sold after school as usual. Please note that Friday is a PA Day.

Facilities Update

Please note that the existing hole in our artificial turf was repaired today. We kindly ask anyone using the field to stay off the repaired area for at least 12 hours.

Kindergarten Open House for New Students
Is your child starting Kindergarten at John Wanless this September? Please join us with your child at our Kindergarten Open House on Wednesday, June 11, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.  You will have a chance to connect with the school administration, Kindergarten teaching staff, and members of the School Council executive. You and your child can tour the school and see some of our Kindergarten classrooms in action! The session will begin in the library.

Planning for Next Year
We are in the process of starting to plan for next year. We therefore ask those parents who know that their children will not be returning to please inform either the current classroom teacher or the office as soon as possible. We would also like to remind families who move out of our school district that you will be required to register your children at your local school for the coming academic year. This applies to all students with the exception of those entering Grade 6.

Notes from the Library
Local author Elizabeth Retter will be returning for a visit with our kindergarten and grade 1 students on Thursday, June 5th to share the ongoing adventures of Easton the Rescue Pup.  Watch for the flyer on Monday for the opportunity to purchase a copy of Elizabeth's book.
 
Equity Committee
 
June is Italian Heritage Month & Portuguese Speaking Heritage Month in the TDSB. 
 
Ontario is home to more than 1,350,000 Italian Canadians. Since the 1880s, the Italian Canadian community has made and continues to make significant contributions to the growth and prosperity of the Province of Ontario. By proclaiming the month of June as Italian Heritage Month, the Province of Ontario recognizes the important contributions immigrants have made in building Ontario’s communities and the economic, political, social and cultural achievements of Italian Canadians throughout the province. Italian Heritage Month is an opportunity to remember, celebrate and educate future generations about Ontario’s rich history.
 
The contributions of the Portuguese-speaking community to Canada are significant as they include the arts, sports, music, culinary arts, and many professional contributions to education and medicine. Canadians, along with all TDSB students, staff, and its communities all enjoy the energetic and vibrant traditions that are shared through the customs of the Portuguese-speaking community. Over 1,400 TDSB students speak Portuguese as their mother tongue or as a primary language. Internationally, there are 250 million Portuguese-speaking people, making it the fifth-most spoken language in the world.
 
June is also Pride Month at the TDSB! It’s an opportunity to celebrate diversity and raise awareness among all staff and students about the rich culture and history of our 2SLGBTQ+ community.  Our committee is currently planning for our 3rd Annual PRIDE Day tentatively scheduled for Thursday, June 26th.  Watch for upcoming information about grade colours, as each grade will be assigned a specific colour to wear for the day of our event.  We will also be hosting the Queer Songbook Orchestra  for a special performance on Wednesday, June 18th.
 

Spring Concert
Thanks to all who turned out to our amazing spring concert. Please see the embedded link for those who wish to view it.
JW Spring Concert 2025

The Children’s Book Bank – Book Drive

For many years, John Wanless has been supporting the Children’s Book Bank. The Book Bank offers books to children throughout the city who don’t have access to their own books. Many teachers across the city take their classes to the Book Bank each year to choose books for the summer. If you have gently used children’s/teen books to donate, please have your child drop them off in the boxes in front of Rm. 217 before June 13.

Thanks for your support of this worthy cause!

Eco Team Update
The eco team is very proud of the plants that are growing on the rooftop patio.  Thank you to all the teachers who did their planting.  If you think you can help with watering the plants in the summer, please email me at heather.lowe@tdsb.on.ca.  Please continue to bring in empty pet food packaging, dead markers and dead batteries.  The eco team has their last meeting on Thursday, May 28th.  We need to do another classroom audit and then add up the points to see which class is doing the most for the environment.  


Equity Committee
On Friday, May 23rd our school welcomed the WUSHU Project in honour of Asian Heritage Month.  The WUSHU Project is a Toronto based martial arts school and home to one of Canada's National Lion & Dragon Dance teams.  They performed for our students and educated them about this special dance that has been an important part of Chinese culture for hundreds of years.   

Nursery Program at The John Wanless Child Care Program

Dear Families,

We are excited to announce that we are accepting registrations for our 2-hour (9:00am-11:00am) Nursery Program for the upcoming school year - September 2025-June 2026. This program is play based and designed to provide a nurturing and educational environment for your 2.6 year child(ren).

If you are interested in enrolling your child(ren), please contact (416-488-8571 OR jwccpforms@gmail.com) us at the child care for further details and the enrolment process.

Fiona, Angie or Jenny 

Eco Team Update
The eco team has been hard at work over the past month.  We have new students from grade 3 and 4 who we hope will stay on the eco team next year.  The team has worked together to do a classroom audit and we made seed balls from soil, clay and worm castings.  We launched the seed balls into the front garden and along the wall on the north side of the building.  We hope these grow into a beautiful wildflower garden for pollinators!  Please bring in your pet food packaging, dead batteries and dead markers!  We will be collecting until the end of the year.  We have our eco audit in June.  We really hope to achieve Platinum level, which is the highest level.  Thank you for everyone's support.


Picking Up/Dropping Off Children

If you are planning to take your child out of school for an appointment, please be kind enough to communicate your intent with both the classroom teacher as well as with the office via e-mail on the day before the event if at all possible. We realize that this is not always possible but try to give us as much advance notice as possible as staff will not be able to check their messages while teaching. 

When picking up your child, we ask parents to wait to be buzzed into the office. We will call the classroom teacher to notify your child that you are here to pick them up. Please do not go directly to the child's classroom as this is disruptive to our staff and to the lessons being carried out. If your child is coming in late, please do not take your child to the classroom (with the exception of kindergarten students) as they can go on their own.
We greatly appreciate your assistance in these matters.

Lunch Supervisors Urgently Needed
We are once again looking to fill four lunchroom supervisor positions. If you enjoy working with children and are flexible enough to be at school from 11:15 -12:30 each day, please reach out directly to school administration.

John Wanless School Council NEWS

Spring Silent Auction THANK YOU!
Thank you to the JW Community for making the John Wanless Spring Silent Auction such a huge success! To our sponsors, teachers, classroom teams, community members and everyone who donated and bid on over 220+ items, thank you for your support. The auction closed at $23,123 and 115% of our goal!
 
 
Fun Fair Wristbands - NOW ON SALE!
Mark your calendars! The Spring Fun Fair—our school’s biggest event—is happening on Friday, June 13th! Wristbands for children only and pizza combos for the entire family are now available at sagoto.com/jwpc/funfair. Order deadline is June 8th!
 
Want to get involved at the fair? We’re looking for parent and high school volunteers to help run activities—just a one-hour commitment makes a big difference! Sign up here!
 
Thank You to Our 2024 Fun Fair Sponsors!
We’re excited to introduce this year’s sponsors— thank you to these amazing community partners for helping to make the Fun Fair a huge success!
PLATINUM
Andre Kutyan
Andrew Ipekian
Avenue Smiles Dental
Belinda Lelli
Mark Arnstein

GOLD
Alex Kluge
Mary Cifuentes
Mitra Goodarzi
Quartermaster
Realty Care Law LLP
 
 
Toonie Thursdays
Reminder to all that JUMBO FREEZIES will be sold after school on June 5th, June 12th and June 19th. 

School Day Schedule for 2024-25

 8:41 am entry for all students- lines for each class (grades 1-6) will be identified in the yard

8:45-9:25 period 1
9:25-10:05 period 2
10:05-10:20 recess for all grade 1-6 students
10:20-11:00 period 3
11:00-11:30 period 4
11:30-12:27 lunch for all grade 1-6 students (students in grades 4-6 eat in their classrooms from 11:30-11:50 and then proceed outside to play; students in grades 1-3 eat in the lunchroom from 11:30-11:50 and then proceed outside to play. Teachers on duty will supervise from 12:12-12:27. students will be picked up by their respective teachers from their respective outside class lines at 12:27 as we have done so this year (except in case of inclement weather).
Please note that kindergarten lunch will run from 11:15- 12:27. students who stay at school during lunch will eat in their classrooms.
12:27  pm entry for all students
12:30-1:10 period 5
1:10-1:50 period 6
1:50-2:05 recess for all students
2:05-2:45 period 7
2:45-3:15 period 8
Dismissal for all grade 1-6 students is at 3:15pm
Dismissal for kindergarten students is at 3:00pm.